cheese

It isn't that unusual in reality - the northern areas of Mexico, such as Chihuahua, are prone to occasional falls of snow, and the likes of New Mexico certainly are no strangers to the white stuff, given most of the state is very high in elevation. Albuquerque certainly gets more snow on average than low-land UK and probably as much as the likes of Aviemore. Won't last long though.. that's the fundamental difference between snow in the UK and snow in Texas. Snow here has a good chance of sticking around for a week or more.. in Texas, not so, since the sun is much stronger and winter daytime temps are much higher.

Jokes need to be funny, don't they?

Even if it isn't cold here, Scandi looks set to enter the freezer. Would be a major shock given record mildness in December.

But it isn't just flood plains like I have said already. It's just as much water runoff in the hills affecting the Pennine towns as it is housing on floodplains around York There is a case for flood defences in Leeds city centre but they haven't been built and plans were shelved in 2011, so you are clearly wrong. I think we should limit or stop building on floodplains but those already living in flood-prone areas should receive protection. The parts of York flooding now haven't flooded since the 1980s so it isn't like they would be hoovering up taxpayers' money every year.

It's easy to say that, though, when you are not the one being affected. I think, unless people have direct experience in having their homes completely gutted by floodwater, they should keep their opinions to themselves. People are not going to leave their homes behind - especially if they have lived in a particular area for so long. Abandoning vast areas of the country because we're too cheap to build flood defences or too stupid to do so effectively will cost far more in the long-term. Look at the centre of York - partially underwater. Do you suggest a decently-sized city such has York - a city that has existed for 2000 years - should be left to ruin because of flooding? This part of the world isn't getting wetter either - I'm not sure where you got that idea from. Over the past 5 years, only 2012 had above average rainfall. All other years had below average rainfall. And even if it was getting wetter, encouraging people to move to the SE would simply cause more problems because it would result in more development on greenbelt and flood plains in an area of the country already stretched to breaking point - an area of the country that also suffered severe flooding in 2007 and more recently in 2014. That's not smart.

Drains can't even cope with summer thunderstorms a lot of the time.. let alone the 80mm+ that some areas received yesterday, that subsequently ran off the hills and into surrounding streets. Well, we have already seen areas that are prone to frequent flooding and areas with the potential to flood quite seriously. That's a start. I guess you're right - but this type of flooding is rare.. or was. It's the worst flooding nearly everyone here has seen and the worst in the Calder Valley since the 1960s. It isn't like you're spending money to prevent annual flooding - just the really bad flooding that crops up every now and then. The flooding that destroys homes. A lot of the people affected have never flooded before - so again it isn't like there is always a precedent of flooding. Some areas of Leeds that flooded yesterday haven't flooded since the 1800s. Anyway, my point is really this - save abandoning these places because flooding is frequent or might become more frequent as a result of climate change, some sort of defence mechanism is needed. Simple as that. We're talking about areas that have been in existence for hundreds, and thousands, of years.. not just modern developments on flood plains. People who have lived in the same area all their life, with preceding generations.. I don't know what the solution is - that isn't my job - but simply letting the flood waters destroy people's livelihoods is not an option. London has the Thames barrier to protect it against tidal surge - I think a city the size of Leeds, and Manchester too, requires something to protect it.. considering it is the source of employment for hundreds of thousands across Yorkshire. It's a good thing the flooding occurred over Boxing Day and Sunday - I can't imagine the disruption that would have unfolded if it was a busy Monday morning.

^^ you're welcome to it. A beautiful sunny day here, with deep blue skies. The flood water was actually strangely beautiful.. lol.

Hope the GFS is wrong in FI.. shows loads more rain for areas that do not need it. The families affected need some respite to get their lives back to normal. That might mean knocker's daffodils won't start sprouting, but I'm sure he'll live.

Not all of the areas being flooded are flood plains though - Hebden Bridge certainly isn't in a flood plain. Leeds isn't either. The type of flooding seen yesterday has never been seen before, or at least not for many decades. I don't think any of us expected yesterday' scenes - so it isn't like the people living in these areas should have expected their properties and businesses to be flooded.

Plus in Feb, we can get mild and sunny like 1998 and 2008. This current setup is simply atrocious.

Take a hint, Atlantic - sling your hook. P**s off. Stop destroying lives. Useless ocean.

Water levels peaked around 3am. Fallen now but still well above record levels.

^^ me neither. I have never seen Asda House under water - not even once. Not unusual for Neptune Street and Clarence Dock to flood but some of these places - wow. Wellington Street in particular, never expected that area to flood. River Levels around Skipton have leveled of now but they're still rising fast downstream.. seems stations around Bingley and Keighley are no longer reporting. Must have been damaged. River levels there were absolutely soaring.

Network Rail advise not to travel in W Yorkshire tomorrow unless absolutely necessary. I know some of the lines in Leeds are flooded.

York now has a Severe Flood Warning.

Wellington Street below. This is a good few hundred metres from the river itself. It's not unusual for the Aire to break its banks occasionally but the extent is something I've never witnessed before. Like Cheese Rice said, it's good Leeds city centre is hilly, otherwise loads more areas could be under water.

6 actually - the latest one is Asda House and Sovereign Street. Never seen Asda House flooded!

Build defences wherever the problems are. Either don't build new houses on flood plains or build them so ground floors aren't flooded - on stilts or whatever else.

Can do a lot more to prevent the flooding though. We've been waiting for ages for flood defences in Leeds, and were warned flooding of this scale would happen sooner or later.

Yup, still rising..

How often do major cities even get severe flood warnings?

Severe Flood Warning for central Leeds. Never seen it before! http://apps.environment-agency.gov.uk/flood/34678.aspx?type=Region&term=Northeast&Severity=1 It's a lot worse than 2007, and river levels are expected to peak at 11pm tonight. This could be the flood we've been warned about for years.

Flooding in Kirkstall:

In Leeds

I've never seen them before. Didn't even know such a thing existed.